Alonso frustrated after qualifying

Fernando Alonso will start the Japanese Grand Prix from sixth place but admitted being frustrated at the yellow flags at the end of Q3.

Alonso set the seventh fastest time - but will move up a place following Button's penalty - but had to back off when Kimi Raikkonen spun on the exit of Spoon curve.

"What can I say, other than get angry about being unlucky? The yellow flags came at the worst possible moment, when I was coming into Turn 14. Up ‘til then, my lap was great and there was every chance of setting the fourth fastest time of the day, which would have then seen me start from third on the grid. From there, the race could have taken on a completely different picture, but we have to accept what happened. We were unlucky today, so maybe we’ll be lucky tomorrow!"

"We are up against some very strong opponents, like Red Bull who are in front and there is also McLaren who are behind, so we will have to keep an eye on both sides of the track. I’m expecting a difficult Sunday: the main aim will be to finish – reliability is crucial- and bring home a good points haul."

We changed a few things on the car compared to yesterday, but after FP3 we went back on our settings as we were not convinced about the changes. I am honestly more optimistic for tomorrow than I was for today, given that our race pace is usually better than our performance over a flying lap: let’s hope that really turns out to be the case."

Felipe Massa had been outpacing Alonso in third practice and in Q1, but the Brazilian struggled in Q2 and was knocked out.

"I am very disappointed with the way this qualifying went. Up until the second run in Q2, everything was going well: the car felt very quick and I was happy with its balance", said the Brazilian, who claimed pole position at Suzuka in 2006.

"But suddenly, once we fitted a new set of Softs, I lost grip at the front, right from the first corner and it never returned throughout the lap. To miss out on Q3 by just 21 thousandths is a further blow. It’s very frustrating not being able to get the right results when you know you can count on a good car. It definitely won’t be easy making up places on a track like this, but we will give it our all and try and bring home plenty of points"